Art of The Siamese Fighting Fish

Betta Splendens, known as the Siamese fighting fish, is one of Thailand’s iconic species and has a storied history as colourful as its rainbow-hued fins. Today, the only place remaining to remind the world of its beauty is the Siamese Fighting Fish Gallery in Bangkok, Thailand. This Gallery plays an important role in conserving the legacy and knowledge of the fighting fish species. Unfortunately, the Gallery is facing decreasing interest among the younger audience, resulting in a lack of funds for the conservation of the fighting fish species. To turn this around, Optimum Betta, a fighting fish food brand joined hands with Shutterstock Thailand, a global marketplace for inspirational pictures and VDOs, to produce the campaign “ART OF THE SIAMESE FIGHTING FISH”. Interest in Betta Splendens needs to be re-ignited to create talkability, and drive the Gallery’s traffic and revenues.

We needed to make the Siamese Fighting Fish relevant and engaging again by introducing an innovative way of projecting its gorgeous appearance and reminding the world of its beauty. “Motion Analysis”, “Pigment Extraction” and “Digital Trail Sculpture” techniques allowed long exposures to capture the vivid movements of the fish to produce aesthetic art patterns, graphic elements and VDO clips. In collaboration with Shutterstock, the art patterns became available for download. A percentage of the purchases were donated to the Gallery. To spark public interest in the fighting fish, an art exhibition was also held, where people could be inspired by the captivating colours and patterns unique to each breed. To increase tangibility, the patterns inspired celebrated artists and designers to join the campaign and implement their own visions for the design, from clothes, purses, handbags, and scarfs to home decoration, including stationary and gadget product designs.